Expulsion

Sister Qi was full of doubts and planned to go back and ask what exactly was going on.

With that thought in mind, Sister Qi hurried back to the shop.

But the moment she entered the main hall, she noticed that the atmosphere in the shop was off. It was tense.

"What's going on?"

Sister Qi frowned as she asked, her beautiful eyes sweeping over the room.

"Sister Qi, you're finally here! You have to stand up for me! Qin Yue has been using the alchemy room constantly lately. She's occupied it from this morning until now."

Niu Yanan ran up to Sister Qi and tearfully complained. As one of the earliest disciples, Niu Yanan was fairly valued, and Sister Qi believed her most of the time.

"Hm? Qin Yue has been occupying the alchemy room the whole time?" Sister Qi frowned upon hearing this.

She had said before that the alchemy room had to be used in turns, and whoever used it for an hour had to switch out.

Yet Qin Yue had occupied it for so long now. That was clearly excessive.

Annoyed, Sister Qi said directly, "Is she treating my words like they went in one ear and out the other? Come on, let's go take a look!"

"Alright, Sister Qi."

Niu Yanan was delighted to hear that. It seemed highly likely that Qin Yue would be driven away this time.

That made Niu Yanan hastily lead the way, quickly arriving at the entrance of the alchemy room.

But just then.

Sister Qi suddenly stopped, and a thought flashed through her mind.

She thought of the pills Qin Yue had been selling and how Qin Yue had constantly occupied the alchemy room. All of it seemed to suggest that Qin Yue had made those pills.

But upon further thought, Sister Qi felt that something was off.

Qin Yue's aptitude was not particularly strong. Even refining the most basic pills was difficult for her, much less Black Iron-grade Moisture Pills.

More importantly, the Moisture Pills were so perfect that they surpassed even her, an alchemist at the peak of Black Iron.

Therefore, Sister Qi felt that someone else must have refined those pills, while Qin Yue was merely selling them on their behalf.

However, Qin Yue constantly occupying the alchemy room was rather strange and impossible to understand.

"I should check the surveillance footage," Sister Qi thought to herself.

She had installed special surveillance in the alchemy rooms, allowing her to observe them when necessary.

So Sister Qi waved her hand. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

After saying that, Sister Qi hurried off, rushing into the secret basement of her shop.

Once there, she quickly turned on the surveillance and looked into Alchemy Room No. 3.

The moment she looked, her pupils abruptly contracted.

"How is this possible? How is this possible?!"

Sister Qi spoke in shock, staring at the surveillance footage in disbelief.

In the footage.

Qin Yue was taking all kinds of prepared herbs and placing them neatly beside the pill furnace.

At the same time, she carefully controlled the heat and worked seriously.

But that was not the important part.

The important part was that white kitten standing beside the pill furnace, refining pills.

Yes, refining pills. A cat was refining pills.

In the footage, the cat occasionally placed materials into the pill furnace, its sapphire-like eyes filled with concentration.

Most importantly, the ingredients and the order in which they were added were precisely those for a Moisture Pill. That was rather terrifying.

"Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. It perfectly controlled the timing for adding the herbs, and the order was correct as well. This cat is simply heaven-defying."

Sister Qi spoke in shock, utterly excited.

Thinking of how seriously the kitten had studied books and learned to identify herbs over the past few days, as well as how it had sneaked into Alchemy Room No. 1 to watch her refine pills, Sister Qi's heart pounded wildly.

"Could it be that in just two months, the kitten not only learned to identify herbs but also learned alchemy? It even went to my alchemy room to secretly watch me refine pills? And the pills it made were better than mine?"

Sister Qi swallowed hard. This time, she was truly frightened—badly frightened.

At the same time, she remembered that earlier assessment. Qin Yue had somehow scored nine points on such difficult questions, which had been very strange.

Now that she thought about it, perhaps that kitten had told Qin Yue the answers.

"If my guess is right, this cat and Qin Yue can communicate telepathically. It must have a rare psychic skill!"

Sister Qi took a deep breath and tried her best to calm her unsettled emotions as she considered how to handle the matter.

"The kitten is so amazing. Why hasn't Qin Yue said anything? Wait, I understand now. The tallest tree catches the most wind!"

Sister Qi thought of the Weird God Cult in the slums, then of the Evil Energy Organization, as well as all sorts of hidden monsters and demons within the city. She suddenly understood.

With so many dangers around—not to mention the Evil Energy Organization that gathered geniuses and the terrifying Weird God Cult—even the monsters and demons hidden within the city were extremely dangerous.

Thus, the kitten hiding everything about itself was a very wise choice.

"Since the kitten wants to hide, I'll help it in secret. Having such an incredible kitten in my shop is a rare stroke of luck for me as well. I must protect it properly."

Sister Qi nodded, determined to protect the kitten well. With that, she rose to her feet and headed for Alchemy Room No. 3.

Outside Alchemy Room No. 3.

The atmosphere was tense, as if swords had been drawn and bows strung.

Encouraged by Sister Qi's earlier words, Niu Yanan became extremely arrogant. The moment she saw Qin Yue emerge from the alchemy room, she immediately began accusing her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to occupy the alchemy room for so long," Qin Yue apologized uneasily.

The reason she had occupied the alchemy room for so long was entirely because Li Xuan had asked her to. She obeyed Li Xuan in everything and listened to whatever he said.

Now that she was being accused, Qin Yue also felt that she had indeed inconvenienced others and hurriedly apologized.

"You think apologizing makes it go away? Let me tell you, no way! Sister Qi said the alchemy room had to be used in turns, but you actually treated her words like they went in one ear and out the other. Just wait. Once Sister Qi gets here, she'll definitely expel you and drive you out!" Niu Yanan said arrogantly.

"I..."

Hearing that she might be driven away, Qin Yue became even more flustered. She panicked so badly that she did not know what to do.

"Don't worry. I'm here."

Li Xuan comforted her calmly. With his current abilities, he could go anywhere, so he remained very composed.

"Yueyue, I'm with you. If you're expelled, I'll leave with you."

Song Xiaomei ran to Qin Yue's side, took her little hand, and resolutely faced this with her.

Though she was also puzzled as to why Qin Yue had been using the alchemy room so frequently, as Qin Yue's best friend, Song Xiaomei chose to support her immediately.

"Thank you, Xiaomei. Thank you, kitty." Qin Yue spoke gratefully, deeply moved.

"Hmph, Xiaomei, who do you think you are? You think you're impressive just because you have some talent in alchemy? Let me tell you, no one here has poor aptitude. Even if your aptitude were twice as good, you still couldn't protect Qin Yue. When the time comes, both of you will be expelled together," Niu Yanan said arrogantly again.

At that moment, the sound of high heels slowly rang out. The rhythmic clacking instantly drew everyone's attention.

Soon.

Wearing a cheongsam and red high heels, Sister Qi approached with a sway of her slender waist, carrying a fragrant breeze with her.

"Sister Qi, you're finally here! Look, Qin Yue just came out of the alchemy room. She was in there all morning. I suggest expelling Qin Yue."

Niu Yanan spoke hurriedly, looking at Sister Qi expectantly.